University of Virginia Library

Kevin Mannix

Government Of Men Or Laws?

As a student who spent
several years working in
student government at this
University, I have certain
reservations about the
newly-established
"arrangement" between the
University Judiciary
Committee and the City's
Commonwealth's Attorney.

Under the "arrangement",
Commonwealth's Attorney
John Camblos has agreed to
refer cases involving minor
offenses by students to the
University's student-run
Judiciary Committee.
Although this is in part a
strengthening and a
formalization of a hitherto
"informal" process, the
agreement brings some
questions to mind.

Reservations

In the first place, there are
pragmatic reservations.
Commonwealth's Attorney
John Camblos cannot be
trusted to be fair. Any person
who has been in this
community over the last few
years can recall several
occasions when Mr. Camblos
has demonstrated biased
judgment in his decisions to
prosecute. This bias is political;
two specific examples are the
more recent decision to
prosecute Steve Squire and the
prolonged litigation regarding
Bud Ogle.

Bud Ogle, a former Student
Council President well-known
in the community for his
"liberal" activism, was
subjected to an extended trial
after being arrested during
student protests in 1970. Mr.
Ogle was one of 69 persons
picked up during an anti-war
protest demonstration. Long
after all other cases had been
dropped (mainly because of
the flimsy charges) Mr.
Camblos continued the case
against Mr. Ogle in order to set
an "example."

It is sufficient to note that
Mr. Camblos is the person who
has the discretion to decide
whether a student will be
prosecuted by himself or by
the Judiciary Committee. I
submit that his decisions will
be heavily weighed by political
bias and prejudices.

I also have theoretical
reservations. One can
understand the sincere desire
of the Judiciary Committee to
attempt to "protect" students
from unnecessary arrest.

However, the theoretical
question which arises is this; is
it fair for students to be
protected from prosecution
while other segments of the
community are not equally
protected? Equal protection of
the law also implies equal
enforcement. Granted that
"student" status no longer
necessarily implies a certain
economic status, aren't we
setting students apart from the
general population by this
Judiciary system?

This seems to be a regression
from the progress made
recently in establishing young
people as citizens with a right
to vote and to participate in
community affairs. Why should
a person be protected from
arrest because he or she is a
college student?

Elitism

Perhaps these points can be
made clearer by posing a
hypothetical question: what
would be the reaction if
Charlottesville's black
community set up its own
"Judiciary Committee" and
asked for a similar arrangement
with the Commonwealth's
Attorney? Granted, this is not
a practical analogy, but isn't
the theoretical approach the
same?

One need not question the
idea of keeping the "academic
community" as a special haven
for unbridled freedom of
thought and expression. That is
why we have our own Security
Force. One need not question
having a Judiciary Committee
to deal with student offenses
on the Grounds of the
University. I do question the
extension of our "academic
enclave" into local police
matters.

Isn't this the very social
elitism many of us have sought
to end at this University?